GDEV 3230

Gender and Development

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2022-2023.

The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal 5 states that countries should "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" by 2030. In this course, we unpack the different and often competing definitions of 'empowerment' and 'gender equality' deployed in development, and consider the historical lineages of feminisms and development theory that led to women and girls as an important constituency. We examine the programs and policies associated with these lineages and consider how women's and girls' intersectional experiences of gender, shape the outcomes of the programs and policies designed to improve their lives. This course blends practice and theory, encouraging students to evaluate the material effects of diverse approaches to reducing gender inequality through case studies, writing, and readings in gender and development.

When Offered Fall.

Distribution Category (D-AG)

• Describe the different historical movements in gender and development thought, and trace their historical relationship with different feminist and development theories.
• Assess gender planning and program models from various theoretical perspectives.
• Evaluate the success of these models in promoting gender equality in the case of specific programs or policies.
• Analyze social change and social institutions through the frame of gender.
• Describe and analyze prospects for addressing gender inequalities through social movements, economic, social and education programs, policy, and the law.
• Produce an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of current mainstream policies and programs aimed at achieving SDG 5: gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

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